Photo of the Week: the Dazzling Colours of Sunset, The Maldives

As the waves of the Indian Ocean gently lap at your feet and the beach's slowly cooling sands, the sun’s last rays of the day paint the sky with a beautiful range of colours and tones.

Photo of the Week: Mt Yasur Eruption, Tanna Island, Vanuatu

Mt Yasur is the most accessible live volcano in the world, with eruptions every five to ten minutes. The 15-minute trek to the crater increases the prospects of a shortened life, but that’s why thousands make it.

Photo of the Week: Cheetahs Posing, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Two cheetahs standing ready and vigilant in the rays of another remarkable day at the Selous Game Reserve, the largest ‘unscathed’ game reserve in Tanzania and a UNESCO-recognised World Heritage Site.

Photo of the Week: Beautiful Waters of the Bocas Islands, Panama

There is a unique vibe about the Bocas del Toro archipelago in far west Panama, the true gateway to the country for overlanders from Costa Rice. It's a bohemian calypso feel that even the hardest at heart will enjoy.

Photo of the Week: The Church of Tisco, Arequipa, Peru

Tisco is one of the highest settlements in Peru's Colca Valley. This church, built before the 18th-century expulsion of Dominican monks Its geographical location, is distinguished by its red décor, made with ochre.

Two 16th-century monuments of the Durbar Square of Patan on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami (the birth anniversary of Krishna), when thousands of pilgrims and devotees pay homage at a temple.

Photo of the Week: Fire-Knife Dancing in Samoa

Siva Afi, or fire-knife dancing, is one of the most exhilarating aspects of Samoan festivities. Although a traditional pre-war ritual that was used to psych up Samoan warrior, it is today a demonstration of agility.

Photo of the Week: Boats Bob in the Waters of Melissani Lake, Kefalonia, Greece

Melissani Lake is a pool of still water in a natural cave. Given the breathtaking beauty of the caves, they have always been an ideal site for rites associated with the divine.

The Responsible Safari Company and Youth for Development and Productivity are designing a Homestay Initiative through which guests can experience authentic village life in Malawi. With that in mind, I decided to experience a village homestay in Malawi myself.

This is a classic feel-good tale featuring an especially unlikely cast of characters: an African travel company, a UK-based handmade-bag manufacturer, a doctor, a boatbuilder, a community-based organisation in Malawi and the people on the shores of Lake Malawi it supports, especially the kids of a primary school.

Eight community representatives gathered together from villages around Southern Malawi to take part in an training day about ecotourism in Malawi. They discuss the future of sustainable tourism in Malawi, including how it might impact rural communities and what they do about it. It is an inspirational day.

Local fishermen on the Lake Malawi use traditional methods to build wonderful wooden fishing boats that can last for over 25 years. One boat builder, Joseph, has also engaged in community development and environmental protection.

The (northern hemisphere) summer holiday season is now well and truly upon us, complete with major celebrations. Independent travellers with a particular penchant for direct, deep and engaging discovery – something sometimes called experiential travel – of new lands and cultures often wrap their travel plans around these happenings. Here are some of our favourites.

“Where’s the place you feel most at home in nature?” This is the question we posed to our network of local travel experts all around the world. They came back with responses about incredible landscapes that make their corners of the earth special. We’ve compiled their thoughts about some of the best landscapes from around the world.

In the best-selling book and motion picture ‘Eat Pray Love,’ Elizabeth Gilbert spends an entire year on the road. She visits three different countries for four months each. How did she do it? Apart from having a book deal already in place to fund her journey, she also travelled smart and travelled slow, especially in her choice of lodging. From Italy to India and Indonesia, she chose longer-term apartment and lodge rental.

We’ve asked our global network of local tourism professionals about the ‘length of stay’ factor in their destinations. Answers varied, but they all agree on one thing: the average tourist isn’t a slow traveller and just doesn’t stay long enough to really appreciate a place. Here are their thoughts on how long is long enough and what the average fast traveller is missing.

With a steady eye on identifying fun, interactive and ethical travel experiences, the whl.travel global online travel-booking network taps into and magnifies the excellence of local tourism experts who. Alone, these experts are local leaders, but united they have become a forceful global presence for the right kind of tourism, sharing with major markets all…

With so many destinations in the WHL Group’s ever-expanding network, we have an incredible wealth of local travel information at our fingertips. Through the Inside Word, our local partners – all travel experts – share their top tips on what to do, what to eat, where to party and where to shop in their necks of the woods. This month, we hear from Kate Webb about local travel in Malawi from the inside.